Court Digest

North Dakota
Former federal circuit court judge Kermit Bye dies at 84
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Former federal circuit court judge and North Dakota native Kermit Bye has died.

Bye, 84, died Saturday at Sanford Health in Fargo, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, according to family members.

President Bill Clinton nominated Bye in April 1999 to fill the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seat left vacant by the death of Judge John Kelly, Bye’s former law partner and close friend. Kelly died in October 1998 just three days before his official swearing-in ceremony.

Bye served as an active judge on the 8th Circuit for 15 years before taking senior status on the court in 2015. He retired a year later.

During his official swearing-in ceremony in June 2000, Bye called the judgeship the highlight of his legal career, even with the gruelling nominating process.

“The process involved ... can be complex at best, certainly at times confusing and at times even frustrating,” he said to laughter. But “when it all works out, then it doesn’t seem so bad after all.”

A Hatton native, Bye was a 1962 graduate of the University of North Dakota law school and a former deputy state securities commissioner. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney for North Dakota before joining the Vogel law firm in Fargo in 1968. He worked there up until his appointment to the 8th Circuit.

Bye leaves behind his wife, Carol Beth, and three adult children.

Minnesota
Records suggest defendant called 911 during attack
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A man charged with carrying out a mass shooting at a Minnesota health clinic last month allegedly called 911 during the attack and told the dispatcher he was the shooter and to send “a lotta ambulances,” records show.

Medical assistant Lindsay Overbay was killed and four other staff members were wounded in the Feb. 9 shooting  at the Allina Crossroads Clinic in Buffalo, a small city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis.

Gregory Ulrich, 67, is charged with murder, attempted murder and other counts in the attack. Ulrich’s call to dispatchers was made three minutes after the first report of shots being fired, according to a 911 transcript obtained by KARE-TV.

When Ulrich says he’s calling from the clinic, a 911 dispatcher immediately asks about the shooter. Ulrich told the dispatcher that he was the shooter and to send “a lotta ambulances.”

Ulrich said he also placed several bombs at the clinic and planned to surrender after they exploded.

During the call, Ulrich gives his name. And, as he waits face-down on the floor for police to arrest him, he tells the dispatcher five people are “extremely” injured and that a medical helicopter should be sent.

Ulrich was arrested without resistance.

Police have said Ulrich was no stranger to them and was known to have been angry over his medical treatment. Although authorities have said they had no recent interactions that would have raised alarms, court documents show that Ulrich threatened to carry out a mass shooting at the clinic in 2018. That threat led to a restraining order that barred Ulrich from the clinic and a nearby hospital as well as an order he have no contact with a doctor.

Earlier this week, a judge ordered a mental health evaluation to determine whether Ulrich is mentally competent to stand trial.

Pennsylvania
Feds: Former Pitt official sold more than 13K stolen N95 masks online
The University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a federal indictment announced Wednesday.

Christopher D. Casamento, 42, of Pittsburgh, stole N95 respirators, surgical masks and particulate respirator masks between Feb. 28 and March 22 last year, selling them on his eBay vendor page, “steel-city-motor-toys,” at “significant price mark ups,” the grand jury’s indictment said.

Shipping to buyers outside Pennsylvania, Casamento made $18,783.50 from the sales of personal protective equipment, the indictment said.

“At the start of the pandemic, when supplies of PPE were low and nationwide demand was intense, Mr. Casamento used his position of trust and access to critical PPE to enrich himself at the expense of Pitt students and faculty,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman.

Casamento was expected to receive a summons on a charge of interstate transportation of stolen property. A message was left at his number seeking comment. Messages were also left for his attorneys.

The two-page indictment does not say how the thefts were discovered, but state and federal law enforcement officials approached the university in early July about an investigation into “misappropriation of the university’s personal protective equipment supplies,” said Pitt spokesperson Kevin Zwick.

Pitt began its own review and determined that Casamento, whose duties included distributing personal protective equipment, had misappropriated the supplies, the university said. Casamento admitted it and was fired on July 17, Zwick said.

He had been with Pitt since 2007.

Pitt said it had adequate stockpiles of PPE and that its distribution of masks was unaffected by the theft. Pitt said it is seeking restitution from its former emergency management chief.

Casamento “had an obligation to make sure there was enough PPE to keep students and staff at the University of Pittsburgh safe,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Michael Christman. “Instead, he chose to line his pockets.”

Rhode Island
Ex-head of police review board sues city over firing
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The former executive director of the civilian review board that oversees the Providence Police Department who was fired in November after he released video of an officer’s assault on a suspect said in a lawsuit against the city that his termination was retaliatory.

The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by Jose Batista alleges the city denied him his free speech and due process rights.

Batista was fired as executive director the nine-member Providence External Review Authority after releasing video of Sgt. Joseph Hanley assaulting Rishod Gore to media outlets against the authority’s wishes.

Hanley was convicted of simple assault last week.

Batista’s lawyer, former state Sen. William Conley, in a statement said Batista was fired “because he refused to break the law to help the city minimize the Sgt. Hanley and Jhamal Gonsalves incidents.”

Gonsalves was a moped operator who suffered a serious head injury last October when he crashed as he was being followed by police.

City spokesperson Ben Smith said he could not comment on pending litigation.

West Virginia
Fired high school teacher loses suit over bigoted posts
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a high school teacher in West Virginia who was fired in 2017 for a series of social media posts that ridiculed Black people, Muslims and former President Barack Obama.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers ruled that the Cabell County school system did not violate the woman’s First Amendment rights, The Herald-Dispatch reported.

Former Huntington High School teacher Mary Durstein argued that a law requiring teachers to have a professional relationship with students even outside the classroom and allowing the superintendent to revoke or suspend a teaching certificate for “immorality” was an overly broad and unconstitutional restriction of her free speech rights.

The judge ruled Monday that Durstein failed to show that the law targets freedom of expression.

“We welcome this ruling as a reaffirmation that those who apparently hold biased views of others —while having the right to express even those bigoted views — should not be teaching our nation’s children,” Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said Tuesday.


Washington
Former state auditor faces federal prison over tax fraud
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A former Washington state auditor has exhausted his appeals and now faces a 366-day federal prison sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for review of his case.

That denial Monday represented the last avenue of appeal for Troy Kelley, who has been fighting his 2017 conviction for possession of stolen property, tax fraud and making false statements, The Northwest News Network reported.

“(I)t is past time for Mr. Kelley to begin his prison sentence,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman in a statement.

The case against Kelley stemmed from his work in the real estate services industry before his election as state auditor in 2012.

Kelley, who previously served as a state lawmaker, was accused of keeping millions in fees that should have been refunded to escrow company customers. Later, prosecutors said, Kelley tried to hide the money by moving it through wire transfers while also creating an off-shore trust in Belize.

Kelley’s first trial in 2016 ended with the jury deadlocked on all but one count, on which he was acquitted. Federal prosecutors tried him again in 2017 and won convictions for several of the charges, but he was acquitted of money laundering.

Kelley was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and a year of supervised release, far less than prosecutors sought.

Kelley and his attorneys appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and, eventually, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In their request for Supreme Court review, Kelley’s lawyers said his case raised two constitutional questions: whether someone can properly be convicted of possession of stolen property for breach of contract and whether his conviction violated the prohibition on imprisonment for debt.

The U.S. government waived its right to file a response to Kelley’s petition. That the Supreme Court declined to take his case is not unexpected.

It’s not clear when Kelley will begin serving his sentence.

In a statement Tuesday, Kelley’s attorney Angelo Calfo said, “It’s been a long road for Troy.”

He also criticized federal prosecutors in Seattle for pursuing the case.

Hawaii
$150K settlement for teenager arrested by classmate’s dad
HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu City Council has approved a $150,000 settlement in a lawsuit that accused a police officer of improperly arresting a boy who had a personal dispute with his son.

The family’s federal lawsuit alleged that Officer Kirk Uemura had the teen arrested because the teen and the officer’s son were at odds and had fought after school in 2018.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and attorney Eric Seitz represented the family and announced the settlement Tuesday.

Their lawsuit said Uemura was “motivated solely by a personal vengeance” in abusing his police power.

Uemura couldn’t be reached for comment.

In a statement, the Honolulu Department of Corporation Counsel called the settlement a “reasonable resolution of the litigation” and said that the city’s “position in this case was that HPD’s current policies and standards of conduct were sufficient in providing direction to officers and addressing conflicts of interest in this particular situation.”

The police department investigated but the grievance process hasn’t been completed, the statement said.

After the lawsuit was filed in October, police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Uemura and his supervisor were disciplined, but she was unable to provide details. On Tuesday, Yu said Uemura is on full duty and that “disciplinary action is pending.”

Seitz said in a news release that neither the officers nor the city admitted liability. During negotiations, attorneys for the family asked the city to reveal disciplinary actions taken against the officers, but the city refused, he said.

A 2020 legislative disciplinary report showed Uemura received a one-day suspension, Seitz said.